2023 Ultimate College Football Road Trip: 50 Games & 43,000 Miles

Week 0 is the start of college football betting at the online sportsbook. 

It’s also the start of a 50-game voyage to see 73 different teams play in 45 different cities across 26 different states. 

BetMGM’s 2023 Ultimate College Football Road Trip begins in Los Angeles on Saturday, Aug. 26, and ends in Foxborough, Mass., on Saturday, Dec. 9. In between: 42,681 miles and approximately 645 driving hours.

No planes, trains, or boats. Driving only.

Week 0

Navy-Notre Dame (in Dublin) is the biggest of seven Week 0 games, but without a plane or boat, that game is ineligible for the road trip.

Instead, the trip begins where Caleb Williams’ 2022 Heisman campaign began: vs. San Jose State at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Williams sits atop Heisman odds as he attempts to become the second player in college football history to win the award twice (Archie Griffin, 1974-75).

USC is a 30.5-point favorite over the Spartans.

Week 1

Florida’s visit to Utah — in the first of three appearances for the Utes on this trip, tied with Ohio State for the most among all teams — will be the Gators’ first regular-season game outside the Eastern and Central time zones for the first time in 40 years. 

After a layover game in Lawrence on Friday night, Neal Brown will have an early opportunity to remove himself from the college football hot seat with West Virginia’s first game against Penn State since 1992.

Labor Day weekend ends with the biggest Week 1 game on the college football schedule and Clemson’s first visit to Duke since 2012.

Week 2

Alabama and Texas will meet three times in the regular season from 2022-25 after zero regular-season games from 1923-2021. And this year’s game should be a College GameDay location for the second straight year.

Alabama is one of five teams with two home games on the trip. No team has three home games.

Week 3

The Week 3 headliner is South Carolina-Georgia — the only home game of the trip for the favorite in college football national championship odds — but Army-UTSA is a Group of Five beauty. 

Only three teams have more wins than the Roadrunners (23) over the last two seasons: Georgia (29), Michigan (25), and Alabama (24). Another season with double-digit wins will only increase the Power Five offers for head coach Jeff Traylor.

Week 4

After Fun Belt action on Thursday and Wisconsin-Purdue on Friday night  — which is the last visit to a Big Ten city until Week 9 — it’s a short drive to South Bend for Ohio State’s third-ever visit to Notre Dame and first since 1996.

Week 5

Oregon-Stanford isn’t among the premier Saturday games, but options are limited after watching one of the premier games of the entire season, Utah-Oregon State, on Friday night.

The Beavers are chasing back-to-back 10-win seasons for the first time in program history. They also posted the second-best ATS record in college football last year.

Week 6

The first of four straight weeks with four games, Week 6 begins with a 2,300-mile drive for a can-miss game in Murfreesboro and ends with two games that should impact the Big 12 title picture.

Texas, Oklahoma, and Kansas State occupy the top three spots in Big 12 Championship odds.

Week 7

Skipping one of three Friday games — Tulane-Memphis, Fresno State-Utah State, or Stanford-Colorado — is a small price for securing another can’t-miss Pac-12 game, Oregon at Washington.

The second-longest drive of the trip must begin immediately after the Dana Holgorsen Bowl on Thursday night to reach Seattle by a TBD kickoff on Saturday.

Skipping the non-descript game in Houston to reach Seattle earlier is also an option.

Week 8

There’s no reason to go back to Miami for Jacksonville State-FIU or Huntsville for UTEP-Sam Houston, therefore it’s straight to Blacksburg after a likely high-scoring game in Kentucky.

After a quick detour to Charlotte to check on Tom Herman’s FAU rebuild, it’s the first and only trip to Madison for the first huge game of the Luke Fickell era. Fickell’s alma mater is visiting Wisconsin for the first time since 2016.

Week 9

There’s no reason to go back to Miami on Wednesday for Jacksonville State-FIU or Huntsville for UTEP-Sam Houston, therefore it’s straight to Blacksburg after a likely high-scoring game in Kentucky.

After a quick detour to Charlotte to check on Tom Herman’s FAU rebuild, it’s the first and only trip to Madison for the first huge game of the Luke Fickell era. Fickell’s alma mater is visiting Wisconsin for the first time since 2016.

Week 10

Halloween MACtion is followed by a 20-hour drive to Lubbock for a game that could effectively eliminate one team from Big 12 contention and a 14-hour drive to Tuscaloosa for the first SEC game since Week 3.

This could be a five-game week if you’re willing to pick a different Thursday game and, depending on TBD kickoff times, Saturday game.

Week 11

North Texas-SMU and Wyoming-UNLV aren’t enticing enough on Friday night to pass on Michigan-Penn State and secure a five-game week.

The Wolverines — tied with Ohio State atop Big Ten Championship odds — are looking for a third straight win over the Nittany Lions after losing three of the previous four games in the series.

Week 12

Instead of following up MACtion with a pedestrian ACC game and a trip to Knoxville, the alternative route includes another potential Pac-12 blockbuster (Washington at Oregon State) preceded by Colorado-Washington State in Pullman.

Week 13

The final week of the regular season starts with Tuesday MACtion and ends with another potentially mega Ohio State-Michigan game. Only Georgia has a higher college football win total than Michigan (10.5) and Ohio State (10.5).

In between there’s also the Egg Bowl and Oklahoma’s final regular-season game as a Big 12 team.

Week 14

As of now, the SEC Championship is the most likely conference championship to feature two potential playoff contenders. 

Georgia is favored in SEC Championship odds, followed by Alabama and LSU.

Week 15

This will be the first Army-Navy Game played in Massachusetts. And it’ll mark the first time since 1942-45 the game has been played in four different locations over a four-year period.